Lifting-jack



' J. A. MURNIN.

LIFTING JACK.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15, 1920.

1,378,265. Patented May 17, 1921.

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JOHN A- MURNIN J. A. MURNIN.

LIFTING JACK.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15, 1920.

Patented May 17,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET FIGlE FIG-3 FIEH4- INVENTOR.

JOHN A.MURNIN ATTORNE Plas- JOHN A. MUBNIN, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1'7, 1921.

Application flled July- 15, 1920. Serial No. 386,548.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN A. MURNIN, a citizen of the United States of America, residin at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lifting-Jacks, of which the following is a ing the provision of a simple effective arrangement of this nature which will be practically fool proof in operation, which is adaptable to actuation in various ways and which is adaptable and controlled in such manner that either side of the vehicle may be raised andlowered independent of the other side.

A still further object is the provision of an arrangement embodying a simple effective and durable lifting jack structure which with the remaining parts-may be readily adapted to and disposed in connection with various different types of vehicles.

The foregoing and other objects as well as the resulting advantages of'my invention will be apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and wherein,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the chassis of a vehicle in connection with which my improvements are mounted,

Fig. 2 is a sectional side view thereof, Fig. 3 is a top view, partly broken away .and in section, of one of the clutch controlled gear units, the clutch actuating lever being removed,

Fig. 4 is a-vertical section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a vertical section through Fig. 3

taken at right angles to Fig. 4,

another portion of the jack.

-Referr1ng now to thesefigures my invention is directed particularly to an arrangement in which liftin 'acks are a plied to the front axle 10 af a vehicle," s indlcated generally at 11 in Fig. 1 and to the rear axle 12 which houses the rear shafts, as mdicated at 13, each lifting jack consistmg, in accordance with my invention, and as seen 1n Flgs. 6 to 9 inclusive, of a frame In two'halves or parts 14 and 15, connected by bolts 16. )ne of these halves is shown removed m Fig. 8, the openings receiving the connecting bolts being indicated in this figure at 17. The two sections of the frame are cored out to form an axial opening receiving the jack screws 18 and have lower enlarged bores and inner horizontal grooves 19 whlch cooperate to form annular spaces for the reception of the'upper annularly enlarged heads 20 of the screw actuating nuts 21, internally toothed to engage the screws 18, and preferably provided with lower worm wheels 22. The worm wheel 22 of each ack is engaged by a worm 23, mounted upon a short shaft 24 which is journaled 1n bearing brackets 25 extending from the two sections 14 and 15 of the frame, one end 26 of the short shaft being squared for the sliding reception of one part2? of a universal joint. Each 'jack screw 18 has a lower bearing end 28 for engagement with the ground and is normally shifted to its upper position away from contact with the ground by rotation of its actuating nut 21, the screw being held against rotation by virtue of its lengthwise groove 29 into which the inner end of a set screw 30 threaded through one of the framevsections, is disposed as seen in I Fig. 9.

One of the frame sections, namely the frame section 15 as shown in Fig. 6 carries an angular attaching bracket 31 with which a clamp 32 cooperates so that the frame of the jack may be clamped in connection with the front or rear axles of a vehicle by virtue of the connection of clamp 32 to the bracket 31 through the use of connecting bolts 33.

As shown in Fig. 6 the clam ing connection is for the rear axle 12 and 1s of slightly different form from the angularbracket 31 and the clamp 32 for the front axle 10 as seen in Fig. 2.

It is obvious that by thus constructing the frames of the jacks, the latter, being without complications and including two part bolted frames, are adapted for association with an axle, quite close to the vehicle Wheels, and] the same construction is applied in reversed relation to an axle adjacent to its opposite ends. It will be noted that no means are provided to limit upward and downward movement of any of the jack screws from a standpoint of safety and integrity of its parts when power actuated. This is'taken. care of in another way as I will later describe.

side of the vehicle frame have their shaft carrying joint sections 27 coupled to similar oint sections at the outer ends of outwardly and downwardly inclined connecting shafts 34, the upper inner ends of which shafts carry joint sections connected to similar joint sections 35 of the clutch shafts 36, mounted in lengthwise spaced parallel relation at the opposite sides of a support 37 bridging. the vehicle frame 38 at or about its center. This support 37 carries journal brackets 39 for a transverse driven. shaft 40, this shaft being driven either by an independent motor 41 on the support 37 as seen in full lines in Fig. 1 or by geared connections as indicated in dotted lines at 42 with the starting motor of the vehicle (not shown.) In case an independent motor 41 is utilized, it will receive its power from the battery or other electrical source on the vehicle and will be controlled by a suitable switch as for instance a side push button switch 43.

At its opposite ends, the shaft 40 is equipped with rigid bevel gears 44, each bevel gear 44 meshing at diametrically opposite points with bevel gears 45 loosely rotatable at lengthwise spaced points on one of the clutch shafts 36 within tlit adj acent end of the support 37. On each clutch shaft 36 between its bevel gears 45 is a lengthwise shiftable splined clutch member 46 having flaring ends with cone shaped end cavities 47, the latter of which are .shiftable to receive in one thereof the cone shaped clutch projection 48 of its respective bevel gear 45. Each sliding clutch member 46 also has a central annular groove 49 in which rollers 50 at the ends of a clutch yoke 51 are disposed. This clutch yoke is integral with the inner end of a clutch actuat-v I shaft 40 in rotation, irrespective of how this ment of the clutch lever 52 at one side of the vehicle frame in one direction will cause shifting movement of the two jack screws, that is front and rear, at the respective side of the frame, in a downward direction. This particular side of the vehicle frame will thus be jacked up, and this may be accomplished independent of the The front and rear acks ad acent to each other side,in case one only of the wheels is to be repaired or adjusted. If it desired to jack up the entire car, the operation is repeated at the opposite side of the vehicle frame, and in this operation as well as when one or both of the clutch levers 52 are shifted in the opposite direction, in the lowering of the vehicle upon the ground and the subsequent shifting of the several jack screws to their upper inactive positions shown in Fig. 2, it is obvious that when the jack screw reaches its limit of shifting movement, the clutch being merely held by manual pressure in the active position, will simply slip or yield and thus breaking of the jacks will be avoided.

In this way I not only provide a permanent jack equioment which is singularly simple and remarkably strong and durable, but my invention further contemplates an equipment of this nature which will be practically fool proof in operation, and though power actuated, its parts will be prevented from and protected against breaking.

I claim:

1. A permanent jack equipment for vehicles having wheel axles, which consists of a series of jacks clamped on the axles adjacent to opposite sides of the vehicle and having actuating shafts, a source of power, and actuating connections between the source of power and the jack shafts including manually actuated means controlling the direction of rotation of the jack shafts and arranged to yield when the latter reach their limits of movement.

2. A permanent jack equipment for vehicles having wheel axles, which consists of jacks clamped on said axles adjacent to opposite sides of the vehicle and having actuating shafts, a source of power movable with the vehicle body, and flexible connections between the. said source of ower and the jack shafts including manua 1y actuated means controlling the direction of rotation of the jack shafts and arranged to yield when the latter reach their limits of movement.

3. A permanent jack equipment for vehicles having wheel axles, which consists of jacks clamped on said axles adjacent to opposite sides of the vehicle and having actuating shafts, a power driven main shaft having support on the vehicle body, and actuating connections between 0 posite ends of said shaft and the jack sha t, and of a flexible nature including manually actuated and controlled clutches yieldable to inactive position when the jacks reach their limits of movement.

4. A permanent lifting ack equipment for vehicles havingwheel axles, including a support attached to the vehicle body, jacks clamped to and supported by the wheel axles adjacent to opposite sides of the body, a transverse driven shaft on said support having end gears, clutch shafts at right angles to and at the opposite ends of, said driven shaft and each having spaced apart loosely rotatable gears engaging opposite sides of one of said driven shaft gears, a clutch member splined on each clutch shaft and engageable with each of its gears, a clutch lever controlling each clutch member, and flexible actuating connections between the opposite ends of each clutch shaft and the lifting jacks at the respective side of the vehicle.

5. A permanent lifting jack equipment loosely rotatable gears engaging opposite sides of one of said driven shaft gears, a clutch member splined on each clutch shaft and engageable with each of its gears, a

clutch lever controlling each clutch member, and universally jointed connecting shafts between the opposite ends of each clutch shaft and the lifting jacks 'at. the respective side of the vehicle.

6. A device of the character described including a lifting jack having a vertically shiftable non-rotatable jack screw, a twopart frame through which the screw is shiftable, clamping means carried by the frame for engagement with a support, a nut threaded on the screw and rotatably held within the frame against lengthwise shifting movement, a rotatable shaft journaled within portions of the frame and having a geared connection with the said nut, and means engaging the jack shaft for rotating the latter.

7. A device of the character described including a lifting jack having a lengthwise movable and non-rotata'blejack screw, a sectional frame through which the screw is shiftable, a sectional clamp carried by the frame for engagement with a support, a nut threaded on the screw and rotatably held within the frame against lengthwise shifting movement, having a worm gear, a shaft journaled in portions of the frame and having a worm engaging the said worm Wheel, and means for rotating said shaft in relatively opposite directions.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

JOHN A. MURNIN. 

